A Lesson Learned
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: A prank Sideswipe set up doesn't quite go according to plan and he's scared that Optimus will hurt him for it. Will Optimus give him a chance to explain? Done as a request for EmeraldMoonGreen. :)


**EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Jay and Eclipse, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)**

 **Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.**

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 **A Lesson Learned**

Sideswipe grinned as he set up his trap, ready to prank Optimus Prime. It was a harmless prank as he didn't want to cause anyone to get hurt. The moment the trap would be triggered, a ton of pink paint would fall down onto the leader of the Autobots. While this would be a bit messy, the red Twin knew that he'd get off with a warning and be ordered to clean up the mess, which he was prepared to do. "Now, to get Optimus to come," he said and quickly had an idea, calling Jay on the boy's cellphone. "Hey, little bro," he said when the boy answered. "Can you come meet me in one of the lounges?"

"Sure," Jay said, unaware of what the mech was planning.

Sideswipe was planning on telling the boy his plan but was too eager to prank Optimus and so hid around a corner, waiting patiently. When he heard footsteps, he set off the trap, which was a holoform spider that would startle anyone.

The thing was, it not only startled Jay when he saw the holoform lunge at him, he screamed and threw himself back into a corner, sobbing loudly. "Daddy!" He cried out.

Sideswipe now realized that the spider had badly scared Jay and that made him worried. He had meant to startle the boy, yes, but not scare him to the point that he screamed like that. Loud footsteps told him Optimus was running to the lounge to see what had scared his son so badly.

Optimus pinpointed where Jay was by his cries and entered the lounge, but the moment he did, neon pink paint fell on him, drenching him from head to toe. Jay was still sobbing from the scare and after the shock wore off, Optimus took stock of his surroundings, realizing the room had been rigged so the paint would fall on him and he saw the holoform spider nearby, instantly realizing that was what had scared Jay so badly.

And there was only one mech who could have pulled off such a prank.

Anger took over as the red-and-blue Autobot's protective parental side took over. "SIDESWIPE!" He literally roared the Twin's name, sounding more dangerous than anyone had ever heard him.

Panicking as the prank hadn't gone according to his plan and he now had a very angry Optimus searching for him, Sideswipe immediately ran as if his life depended on it, staying clear of running into the others.

The whole base had shook with the force of Optimus' roar and everyone ran to see what had happened, fearing that it was something horrible. When they arrived, they found a very angry Optimus covered in neon pink paint, a giant pink mess on the floor, a now static-filled holoform spider which was fading in and out of focus, and a very frightened Jay, who was sobbing and curled up in a ball.

As Ratchet and Knockout quickly got the boy to the medbay to get him to calm down, the others helped Optimus clean the paint off of him and clean up the floor of the lounge. Optimus then looked at Sunstreaker, who swallowed and knew instantly what question was going to be aimed at him. "Where is your brother, Sunstreaker?" The leader asked.

The yellow Twin closed his eyes and focused a moment on the bond before nodding and opening his eyes. "He's hiding in one of the storage rooms," he said, feeling upset at his brother for scaring Jay like that.

Optimus nodded, still looking like he was on the warpath, and turned to Prowl and Ultra Magnus. "Find him and bring him to my office," he said to them.

Nodding, both the Praxian and the leader of the Wreckers headed to find the hiding Autobot while Optimus headed with the others to the medbay to check on Jay. The boy had finally calmed down, thankfully, and was uninjured, something that was a relief to them all, but they were still upset over what Sideswipe had done. "Which of you were headed on patrol?" Optimus suddenly asked.

"Bee and I just finished the last patrol an hour ago, sir," Arcee answered.

"I believe Predaking, Starscream, and Megatron are patrolling the skies still," said Knockout. "Soundwave is at the town lab nearby, helping out."

The leader of the Autobots nodded. "Bumblebee, can you and Arcee take Jay to the amusement park?" He asked. "It would be best if he's not present when I speak to Sideswipe."

"You don't have to ask us twice," Bumblebee said seriously as he accepted a now-calmer Jay from Ratchet. "Come on, Jay. How about we try that racing game? You owe me a rematch."

Jay smiled as he remembered he and Arcee had won the last game against Bumblebee. The femme smiled and they headed out while Optimus headed for this office and the others made themselves scarce, not wanting to be around when Sideswipe was found and Optimus spoke with him.

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Meanwhile, Sideswipe was hiding from Optimus in one of the storage rooms, upset that the prank had gone wrong and Jay had been so badly frightened. Worried about the boy, he reached out through his bond to Sunstreaker, only to wince as he got an overwhelming rush of anger and disappointment from his twin brother before the bond closed. Rubbing his chest, the red mech was now really worried. If Sunstreaker had closed off their bond, then he was very upset with his brother.

Just then, he saw Prowl and Ultra Magnus enter and they spotted him, their expressions furious as they both pointed to the door, indicating that Sideswipe was to go with them. Standing up, the mech went with them as they led him to Optimus' office. He decided to try and ask how Jay was. "Is Jay okay?" He asked softly.

Neither mech answered him, nor even looked at him. They didn't speak to him the entire time they led him to Optimus' office and went inside. When he entered, Sideswipe was shoved none too gently into a chair and both the Praxian and leader of the Wreckers left, shutting the door behind them as the red Twin was faced with a very, very angry Optimus Prime.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, soldier," Optimus said, wasting no time as he scolded the mech in front of him. "Pulling pranks is one thing. Scaring my son to the point that he screams in horror is another thing and one that I don't tolerate."

Sideswipe flinched at that, feeling very ashamed that he had scared the boy that badly. He hadn't meant to, but he knew that Optimus wouldn't believe him if he tried to protest, so he stayed quiet at the larger mech continued scolding him.

"I'm very furious with you for pulling such a prank on my son," the leader continued his lecture. "After all he's been through, you should know better. Your immaturity and thoughtlessness hurt Jay and embarrassed me."

As the lecture continued, Sideswipe began to feel very scared, especially when Optimus' voice took the angriest tone he had ever heard. He tried the bond again, but got no answer, which only made it worse. Unable to feel his brother and fearing now that Optimus would cause him physical harm (which he couldn't blame him because the mech was protective of his son, but that still made him fearful), the red Twin hung his head, trying hard not to cry, but that was getting harder as his fear mounted.

Optimus had finished his lecture and was facing away from Sideswipe, still angry at him. "Explain yourself, soldier," he said firmly, his voice harsh.

Sideswipe couldn't hold back his fear any longer and a choked sob escaped him. Hearing this, Optimus turned to look at the red Twin while still looking angry, but he froze when his mind registered what he heard and began registering what he was seeing.

The poor mech was trembling uncontrollably and shrinking down in an attempt to make himself look smaller, tears spilling down his face and his breathing was erratic from trying to stay absolutely quiet. His face had a sparkbroken expression and his optics were wide in utter fear. The mech's actions made Optimus think sharply about Jay, who for a long time had the same expression when he was frightened and still occasionally got frightened to the point that he looked exactly as Sideswipe did now.

Seeing that while his lecture had hit home, perhaps he had been slightly too harsh with the now shaking mech, Optimus took a deep breath to calm himself and began slowly approaching the red Twin, who whimpered and fell out of the chair in an attempt to get away, curling up in a ball in an attempt to protect himself, again reminding the leader of the Autobots of Jay, who had done the same thing before he had learned he was safe with them all.

Sideswipe was so scared that he didn't care that he was crying. "I'm sorry," he sobbed out, repeating the apologies as he begged for Sunstreaker through the closed bond, but got no reply, which made his tears fall harder. In his panic, he didn't even notice that Optimus had approached him and embraced him until he felt a large hand rubbing his back in small, soothing circles and heard his leader's steady sparkbeat. His trembling slowly stopped and he curled up against the larger bot, who held him and continued to wordlessly soothe him.

Finally, Sideswipe calmed down, feeling a bit better, but now became embarrassed that he had lost it in front of his leader and was acting like a sparkling. He now began squirming gently to get away from Optimus, but his plan to do so backfired when said Autobot tightened his hold on him. "I'm afraid you are in need of a very long and thorough tickle torture as both a way to cheer you up and part of your punishment," Optimus said, a smile coming to his faceplates.

Sideswipe gulped and made one more attempt to escape, but the leader of the Autobots let his parental side take over and playfully pounced on the red mech, his hands going for the red stomach. "I'm going to tickle you to pieces, little one," he cooed teasingly.

Giggles built up inside the red Twin from the teasing and he tried to keep them in, but when the silver fingers began tickling his stomach, he instantly laughed, unable to keep his laughter at bay as he was tickled mercilessly.

"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" Optimus said, his voice still teasing. "This little one just loves being tickled, doesn't he? Is this little sparkling ticklish?"

Normally, Sideswipe would have pounded anyone for teasing him about how he pretty much became like a kid when tickled, but he knew Optimus meant it in a playful manner, no doubt seeing the red mech as like a son who needed reassurance, no doubt from his experiences in raising Jay.

Optimus was smiling and even laughed as Sideswipe's antics as he laughed were similar to both Red Alert and Eclipse. Like Red Alert, he acted all giggly and bubbly, letting out cute squeals and cute snorting through his laughter, but like Eclipse, he tried to tickle Optimus back in a tactic to try and escape, but the leader of the Autobots only chuckled and gently pinned the red mech down, both hands reaching slowly for Sideswipe's neck, fingers wiggling at him.

His neck being his worst spot, Sideswipe tried to block the attack, but the wiggling fingers met their target and he howled with laughter, trying to push the silver hands away from his neck, but that prove futile as Optimus then blew raspberries into his neck, cooing teasingly the whole time, only stopping when the poor mech was reduced to clicking and chirping like a newborn sparkling.

Seeing this, Optimus stopped the tickle torture and helped his victim sit up and let him lean against him as he worked on catching his breath and calming down. A large hand rubbed the red mech's back and he soon had fully calmed down, feeling a little better, but still a bit upset because he still couldn't feel Sunstreaker through the bond and he didn't know how Jay was doing. He also still had a small bit of fear as to how Optimus would punish him, though the tickle torture should have proven that the larger mech wouldn't do him any physical harm, but he still was unsure.

Optimus placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sideswipe," he said, his voice taking a gentler tone and making the mech look up at him. "Why did you panic like that?"

Though the question was asked gently, the mech still flinched a little and let out a sigh, swallowing before reluctantly answering. "I…I was scared, especially with how everyone acted," he said.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Optimus replied gently.

"When I asked them how Jay was doing, no one would answer me," Sideswipe said. "And then Sunstreaker closed off our bond, which made things only worse and then when no one would say how you were going to punish me, along with me already feeling bad about Jay getting badly scared…I just broke down."

He then looked up at the leader. "Optimus, I didn't mean to scare Jay that badly," he said quietly. "I only meant for him to be startled, but when I heard him scream, I realized that the prank wasn't going according to plan. And when you ran in and the prank was set off and you roared my name…I got scared and I was afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you that Jay getting badly scared was not part of the prank at all."

He hung his head. "I'm really sorry," he said softly.

Optimus nodded. "It seems we've both learned a lesson then," he said. "I let my anger get in the way of my knowing you'd never hurt Jay on purpose."

Sideswipe shook his head. "I'd never do anything to hurt him or scare him badly," he said firmly. "I know what he's been through and how hard it is for him when he goes into a flashback."

Optimus nodded again. "Well, soldier, if you make amends with Jay, then your only punishment will be cleaning up the lounge that you set the prank up in from top to bottom," he said.

The mech was grateful that his leader was being gracious with him. "Thank you, sir. I will get to cleaning that lounge room after I find Jay and apologize to him," he said.

Nodding once more, Optimus gently dismissed him and the mech instantly headed to find Jay, learning he had just come back from the amusement park with Bumblebee and Arcee and was in his room. Heading to the boy's room, he gently knocked on the door. "Hey, Jay. It's Sides," he said softly. "Can I come in?"

"Come in," the boy called and the mech entered, looking at Jay who looked perhaps a bit hurt and he sighed.

"Jay, I'm sorry," he said. "I…I should have known that the spider would have badly scared you, but I was so eager to prank your father that I didn't think about how you'd be scared too."

Jay looked curious. "Was the spider for me or Dad?" He asked.

"It was for you, to startle you, but I should have included you in on the prank so that you wouldn't have been so frightened," Sideswipe explained. "That was really stupid of me. And I'm sorry."

The boy went up to him and hugged his leg as best he could and the red mech turned on his holoform so that the boy could give him a proper hug and he hugged the boy back. "I forgive you, big brother," Jay said. "And…I asked everyone not to be mad at you. I knew you wouldn't pull a mean prank on me on purpose."

"No," Sideswipe said. "I'd rather have your uncle Ratchet tie me down to the berth and give me a check-up than do that to you."

Jay nodded and then smiled. "Have you seen Sunny yet?" He asked.

"No, not yet," the red Twin said before rubbing his chest. "I can't even get him to respond through our bond."

"I'll be right back," the boy said and ran to find Sunstreaker, finding him in the Twin's quarters and telling him his plan to help Sideswipe feel better and that the red Twin was really hurting from the bond being closed.

Sunstreaker nodded and followed the boy to his room, seeing Sideswipe there and he opened up the bond again. "I didn't close off the whole bond," he said to his brother. "I only closed the part of it that lets us feel what the other feels physically."

The mech felt relief and smiled at them. "Well, I better get to the lounge room. Optimus asked me to clean it up as part of my punishment," he said.

"Wait, Sides," Jay said, making him turn to the boy. "Sunny and I need to give you something."

"Oh?" The red mech asked curiously.

Sunstreaker smiled. Only his brother and Jay could call him 'Sunny' and get away with it and he gently tackled his brother, pinning him down. "Get him, Jay!" He said with a grin as he began tickling his brother's sides and Jay began tickling Sideswipe's neck, making the red mech howl with laughter again as his brothers tickled him to pieces.

Later on that evening, after he had cleaned that lounge room so that it shone, Sideswipe was in his shared room with Sunstreaker, who was laying on the berth, ready to go to sleep but held his arms out to the red mech, who went over and lay on the berth, going into his brother's hug and holding onto him as they cuddled. Despite being tough mech, the two were very close as brothers and when they were alone, they acted as siblings always do, cuddling each other, soothing each other when they had nightmares, and just being caring brothers.

"I'm sorry, bro," Sunstreaker said. "For earlier."

"It's okay, Sunny," Sideswipe said, snuggling into his hug. "It's a lesson learned, one that I definitely won't forget."

"Same here," said the yellow Twin before they both fell asleep, still cuddling each other.

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 **GoldGuardian2418**


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